TUV leader: ‘Nonsense’ to say only certain unionists can win elections

“It’s nonsense” to say that only certain unionist candidates can win seats, TUV leader Jim Allister has said.

At his party’s conference on Saturday Mr Allister criticised the DUP and UUP, as “unionist aiders and abettors in the Executive” and vowed that with more MLAs he would present “a political landscape changed forever”.

The 2022 Assembly Election saw Sinn Fein become the largest party at Stormont for the first time, facilitating Michelle O’Neill to become the first nationalist First Minister.

On Friday the DUP announced their West Belfast candidate for next year’s Assembly Election, councillor Frank McCoubrey, with signs saying ‘only Frank can win’.

DUP leader Gavin Robinson has previously expressed his support for co-operation between unionist parties, stating his hope “that other political leaders will see that the opportunity to win for unionism is greater than any individual party”.

Speaking to the Press Association after his conference speech at the Royal Hotel Cookstown, Mr Allister said “no seat belongs to any party, they belong to the people”.

“It’s nonsense in a PR (proportional representation) election to say that only a certain candidate can win,” he said.

“The beauty of PR, in a sense, is that you can afford the luxury of choice provided, something we’ve always advocated, you use your preferences totally within the unionist family.

“There are eight to 10 unionist MLAs in Stormont today who wouldn’t be there but for TUV transfers, we have delivered on that in past elections, and all of unionism needs to deliver on transfers.

“It’s not about party advantage, it’s about obtaining the maximum unionist voice, and I want to see a unionist representing west Belfast, it’s been neglected, but it’s up to the electorate of west Belfast not Gavin Robinson, not the DUP, not Jim Allister, to decide who that will be.

“And they will do that in a PR election, making their choice and using their transfers to ensure the unionist quota that’s there is brought out and elects a unionist.”

Asked if he would commit to not running a candidate in any seat, he said: “The question of standing down is irrelevant to a PR election, you want to maximise the vote of the PR election.

“That means providing choice with the caveat that people then use their transfers, so it’s not about standing down, it’s about standing up for unionism and getting the biggest possible vote for unionism.”

In his speech Mr Allister referred to the post-Brexit trade arrangements in Northern Ireland, previously the protocol and now the Windsor Framework, which he said were “building Irish unity before our eyes, while unionist aiders and abettors in the Executive look the other way”.

He referred to the DUP leader as “Gave-in Gavin”, deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly as First Minister Michelle O’Neill’s “support act and bridesmaid”, DUP education minister Paul Givan as “Paul Give In”, and UUP health minister Mike Nesbitt as “heading for the exit Mike”.

There were shouts of “shame” and “sell outs” as the TUV leader spoke of his problems with the DUP.

“Leave the protocol and the dopes in Stormont in place and we will be sleepwalked out of the United Kingdom, all under the dishonest pretence of fighting for the union, while all the time destroying it,” he said.

The powersharing institutions were not operational for around two years as a result of the DUP’s boycott in protest against post-Brexit trading arrangements.

Referring to the TUV’s single MLA, Mr Allister said: “Give me more Timothy Gastons in Stormont and I’ll give you a political landscape changed forever.

“Give the TUV the clout and there will be no implementation of the protocol through Stormont, because we are clear there should be no Executive as long as there is a protocol.

“To have an Executive you must implement the protocol, to have an Executive you must therefore implement your own destruction, to have an Executive you must widen and increase the Irish Sea border.”

He added: “The choice is pandering to Sinn Fein or facing down Sinn Fein.

“The choice is partnering with Sinn Fein or divorcing Sinn Fein.

“When will the DUP have had enough of Sinn Fein’s unfaithfulness to Northern Ireland, their desertion of good government and their unreasonable behaviour in lauding the murder of our people?”

Reform UK MP Danny Kruger and Mr Gaston also spoke at the conference.

A LucidTalk poll from January 2026, puts the TUV at 11%, the UUP at 13%, and the DUP at 19%.

Of the nationalist parties, Sinn Fein are leading at 25%, with the SDLP at 11%.